Murder Mystery
Murder!
There has a been a murder, and you have been hired to find the killer! You must investigate the crime to identify suspects, gather clues, and determine the MEANS, MOTIVE, and OPPORTUNITY of the murderer -- or convincingly fabricate a story to frame someone else.
Investigation
Perform your investigation however you wish: interview witnesses, collect evidence from the crime scene, and so on. The investigation ends when you assemble the suspects and reveal the findings of your case! When you make your accusation, you will roll a DC 20 Charisma Persuasion check to see if anyone believes you. Whoever you accuse will be found guilty of the crime and punished accordingly regardless of the outcome of your roll; frontier justice is swift. But if you aren't convincing, there will surely be consequences later...
The Clues
The DC for the final accusation skill check is 20. You can reduce it by gathering the MEANS, MOTIVE, and OPPORTUNITY of the killer (or fabricating them for your patsy) during your investigation, so take good case notes.
- MEANS: How did the killer do it?
- MOTIVE: Why did the killer do it?
- OPPORTUNITY: Where and when did the killer do it?
Each clue that matches the DM's scenario reduces the DC of your Accusation by 2.
Framing a Patsy
Uncovering the truth is so much work! It would be so much easier to just frame some rube for the crime. Plant evidence, blackmail witnesses, intimidate someone into a false confession; it's all fair game so long as you don't get caught.
When framing someone for murder, the final check uses Deception instead of Persuasion, so you can make up whatever MEANS, MOTIVE, and OPPORTUNITY you like. But you must roll a Charisma Deception check for each one, when presenting the "facts" of the case, and you only reduce the DC of your accusation check if your lies are believed.